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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28611549">Children fo the War</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/qmiao1906/pseuds/qmiao1906'>qmiao1906</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Ben is Ahsoka's apprentice, Character Death, Everyone is ten years younger than in the movies, I don't know what counts as major or minor, Inquisitor Hux, Jedi Ben Solo, M/M, Torture</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-05-18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 05:47:22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>15,824</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28611549</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/qmiao1906/pseuds/qmiao1906</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>On the second Death Star, Luke died at the hands of Palpatine. In rage and despair, Vader killed Palpatine, yet manage to survive due to his now even strong connection to the dark side of the Force. He succeeded Palpatine and became the emperor. Although they still lost the second Death Star, the Empire took back control of the galaxy under the leadership of Emperor Vader.<br/>To prevent Jedi from ever coming back, Emperor Vader rebuilt the Inquisitorius.<br/>The Inquisitors hunted remaining Jedi and Force users across the galaxy. Force-sensitve children were taken from their families and sent to Arkanis, where they would be trained to become new Inquisitors.<br/>During this time of war and terror, Leia gave birth to her son, Ben Solo.<br/>As Ben grew up, a new generation of Inquisitors also began to serve the Empire. After realizing Leia would never join him, Vader also started to shift his attention on the grandson he never met…</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Armitage Hux/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren, Rey &amp; Ben Solo | Kylo Ren</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>19</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">


        <li>
            A translation of

            <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/22903495">战争之子-Children of the War</a> by <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/qmiao1906/pseuds/qmiao1906">qmiao1906</a>.
        </li>

    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This is a translation of my work in Mandrain under the same title. I am not a native English speaker (obviously), My grammar and vocabulary are terrible. If some words or sentence sounds off, I'm sorry.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1">It felt cliche— At the beginning of a legend, there is always a pilot. Twenty years ago in the story of Yavin 4, there was Luke Skywalker and Han Solo, and right now, in this story, the pilot’s name is Poe Dameron.</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">However, Poe grand entrance didn’t come with a great victory. Quite the opposite, he entered the scene as a pitiful loser.</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">He went to Jakku, got from their contact the star map marking the whereabout of Master Tano and her apprentice but the Imperial force followed right after, searched the village he was hiding in, and drove all the villagers to the front.</p><p class="p1">Poe watched a figured emerged from the shuttle and gasped — he was expecting some elite forces, but he wasn’t; expecting an Inquisitor!</p><p class="p1">This would end badly, Poe signed quietly. He called his droid to his side and put the data storage unit containing the star map into its secret compartment.</p><p class="p1">“Listen BB-8, this will be safer on you. Now go, as far as possible. I’ll find you later.”</p><p class="p1">The droid rocked at Poe’s feet, not wishing to abandon him.But when Poe pushed it away, it finally rolled into the shadows and ran away.</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">Now it’s just him.</p><p class="p1">Poe pulled out his blaster and began shooting randomly.It would be easier for him to just sneak away quietly than trying to create chaos. But he had to let the Imperials know he was here, and he had fled the village, only then would they leave this place alone. The Rebel Alliance was set to protect all good people in the galaxy, which included those innocent villagers.</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">Of course his plan didn’t work. He didn’t have much hope for escape as soon as he saw that Inquisitor. That tall, slim Inquisitor easily deflected Poe’s blaster bolt with that spinning double-bladed lightsaber in his hand. And before Poe had a chance to fire again, he was held by an invisible power and unable to move. He was handcuffed by stormtroopers and brought before the Inquisitor.</p><p class="p1">But his sacrifice didn’t save those villagers—</p><p class="p1">“Kill them all.” The Inquisitor ordered.</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">Poe opened his eyes. He had given up on tracking the time. He might have been here for days, or maybe just a few hours. The black ball-shaped interrogation droid hovering by his side, scanning him. Poe turned his face in disguise— that torture machine worked with a cold precision, could cause excruciating pain with minimum damage. Even looking at it, Poe felt he might throw up.</p><p class="p1">He began to miss BB-8. His orange-and-white, naughty, but trusty little ball.</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">The door opened. That Inquisitor from Jakku walked in. Poe noticed his black leather boots were still covered dust— this guy hadn’t clean himself up, so maybe it had been here as long as he thought.</p><p class="p1">“Poe Dameron, rebel pilot. Maybe the best one after Han Solo.”</p><p class="p1">The Inquisitor has a annoying posh accent, Poe would decribe it as “Imperial accent.”</p><p class="p1">“You’ve caused quite some trouble for the Empire.”</p><p class="p1">“I’ll take that as a compliment.” Poe smiled.</p><p class="p1">The Inquisitor walked toward Poe, stopped at a few steps away. He pressed a button on his helmet, and the face shield retracted back, revealing a young face. He pulled off the helmet, placed it aside, and combed his red hair back with his gloved fingers. He then walked closer, looking him up and down.</p><p class="p1">Poe was also looking at him.</p><p class="p1">“Aren’t you too young for an Inquisitor?” He commented.</p><p class="p1">“Hmm.” The Inquisitor looked a bit surprised. “It seems you do know something about Inquisitors. Luckily I know something about you, too. You and the rebel leader Leia Organa are very close. She’s like a mother to you, isn’t she?”</p><p class="p1">Hearing Leia’s name, the pilot gave his interrogator a angry glare. “You think you can use me as bait? Leia won’t risk more lives just for a mere pilot!”</p><p class="p1">The Inquisitor laughed and shook his head. “You’re mistaken. Destroying rebel forces is not my job. I only want to know where did you put that map. Since we are expecting company, then I can take my time. When I got what I want, maybe I’ll be kind enough to return your head to your beloved General Organa.”</p><p class="p1">Poe turned his head away, not responding to the threat.</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">“Forgot to introduce myself, I am Inquisitor Hux. I think you at least deserve to know by whose hand were you defeated.”</p><p class="p1">“It’s too soon to claim victory, Inquisitor Hugs. You masked clowns won’t intimidate me.”</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">Hux was angered by Poe’s mocking mispronunciation. He slapped Poe across the face and intruded into his mind, trying to search his memory.</p><p class="p1">Poe felt something punctured his skull and pierce right through his brain. He forced himself to focus, shutting the intruder out of his mind. That unseen force pounded at the gate of his memory, like someone was hitting his head repeatedly with a giant hammer, harder and harder…</p><p class="p1">Just when Poe was about to scream, that force retreated.</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">Poe opened his eyes: Hux put down his hand, pale face had turned red form exhaustion and embarrassment. His chest rose and fell as he breathed heavily.</p><p class="p1">It took a moment for Poe to realized what just happened. Then he laughed.</p><p class="p1">But his laughter was soon cut short by a invisible hand around his neck, choking the life out of him.</p><p class="p1">“I will get what I want.” He heard Hux said. “Then I will make you suffer.”</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">Hux gestured at the interrogation droid, and that dreadful machine once again came close to Poe. Poe felt a sharp pain in his left arm, something cold was pushed into his vein. He struggled to get away to no avail and gradually fell into a fog of weariness… </p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">After Poe stopped struggling, Hux checked his eyes: His pupils were slightly dilated, which means the drug was taking effect. Now the pilot would be very suggestible. He could make him see and feel through mere words.</p><p class="p1">At first, Hux didn’t want to use the interrogation drug. He thought the physical torture would weaken the pilot’s spirit enough that he could easily break into his mind and take the information he needed. But he underestimated his resilience. If Phasma was here, she might be able to break him, but Hux wouldn’t gave her the chance to please Emperor Vader, especially when they both wanted the position of Grand Inquisitor.</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">“Poe.” Hux called the pilot’s name, making his voice soft as possible. “You are safe now. You’ve been rescued. We brought you back to our base.”</p><p class="p1">The pilot blinked, let out a quiet moan.</p><p class="p1"><em>He’s beginning to believe it.</em> Hux smiled. He took off his right glove, gently touched Poe’s forehead, once again reached into his mind.</p><p class="p1">He felt confusion and a thread of mistrust. He needed to push a little more.</p><p class="p1">“You are okay. General Organa was worried about you. She’ll be here as soon as she can.”</p><p class="p1">“Leia…” Poe whispered the general’s name. Hux felt a wave of emotion, and then, everything calm down. Poe was completely relaxed.</p><p class="p1"><em>It’s time. </em>Hux began to guide him with his words.</p><p class="p1">“We saved you, but the Empire got the map. They may be heading toward Master Tano’s location right now. But don’t blame yourself. We know you’ve done everything you could.”</p><p class="p1">“No…”Poe muttered, trying to pull his hands and feet out of his cuffs. Hux felt guilt, worry, not just for the Jedi and the rebellion. He was worried about something…or someone.</p><p class="p1"><em>That’s it!</em> Hux narrowed his eyes, choosing his next words carefully.</p><p class="p1">“You didn’t have the map on you. You gave it to your…companion. Right?”</p><p class="p1">“I… ” Poe frowned, looked saddened by the thought.</p><p class="p1">“Your companion must be captured by the Empire, and we all know how they are. I’m sorry, Poe.”</p><p class="p1">The picture in the pilot’s head became clearer: a round shape. An allien?</p><p class="p1">He needed to see more, so Hux continued to push.</p><p class="p1">“The Imperials will do everything they can to get the map. They will tear everything part and search the pieces if they have to.”</p><p class="p1">“BB…” The pilot murmured.</p><p class="p1">And Hux finally figured out what that thing was— this stupid rebel wholeheartedly cared about a BB-unit droid!</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">Hux pulled back his hand, shaking it like he was shaking off some mud. He put back on his glove and looked at Poe with a cold smirk. He spoke again, this time with his usual cool tone. “As I said, I will get what I want. ”</p><p class="p1">The change of tone brought Poe a moment of alert.</p><p class="p1">“No,” he shook he head, “I can’t…”</p><p class="p1">“It’s too late.” Hux whispered in his ear. The effect had not yet worn off. He could have some fun with it.</p><p class="p1">“The entire rebellion died because of you. And you are burning in flame with the rest of them.”</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">Hux put on his helmet and walked out of the room. Behind him,came the pilot’s heart-wrenching scream.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>When I posted this work in Mandarin, two of my lovely readers drew Inquisitor Hux. Both of them used Second Sister’s costume as reference. But when I was writing Inquisitor Hux, I actually has Seventh Sister in mind. She is not as powerful, but cunning and cruel, very much like Hux.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1">Poe felt tired, both his body and his mind.</p><p class="p1">He failed. That Inquisitor named Hux knew about BB-8 now, and they must have started looking for it. And then… And then…</p><p class="p1">His mind started drifting. A overwhelming sense of defeat washed his weakened body, making it hard for him to think. The only thing floating in his clouded brain is: if the Empire is to execute him, please do it sooner.</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">He didn’t notice the door briefly open and closed, the guard besides him didn’t pay much attention either. Only when a dark-skinned boy appeared before them did they both realize someone had snuck in.</p><p class="p1">They boy looked very young, only twelve or thirteen. He’s wearing black uniform, which mede him like a moving shadow.</p><p class="p1">“Who let you come in here, cadet?” The guard yelled at him.</p><p class="p1">The boy straightened his body, trying to make himself taller. He gave the guard a very serious look and announced. “Inquisitor Phasma wants the prisoner.”</p><p class="p1">The guard seemed to be startled by that name. He stepped back, giving the boy another look, hesitantly asked. “Are you… Inquisitor Phasma’s student?”</p><p class="p1">“Yes, I am.”</p><p class="p1">Then the guard looked more hesitant than before. “But Inquisitor Hux has already questioned him.”</p><p class="p1">“You can sort this out with the two Inquisitors.” The boy answered firmly. “I am only doing what I was told.”</p><p class="p1">He then walked straight to the control panel and pushed the button to release Poe from his restraint. The guard follow some steps behind, but eventually didn’t stop him.</p><p class="p1">The boy walked back to Poe and asked. “Can you still walk?”</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">The next thing he knew, Poe was brought out of the interrogation room by that stronge young boy. They met a few stormtroopers along the way, but they simply looked at the boy and walked away. The boy clearly had a special identity. Based on his conversation with the guard, Poe guessed he was a cadet in some kind of special force.</p><p class="p1"><em>Kriff the Empire.</em> Poe cursed in his head. <em>They are putting children in the frontline! </em>Although, to be fair, Poe himself was a child growing up at the frontline. But Leia didn’t let him officially join to rank until he was sixteen.</p><p class="p1">Despite him feeling bad for this boy, Poe kept glancing at him while walking. If the boy was really somebody special, may he can take him hostage and…</p><p class="p1">The boy gave Poe a look, as if he could read his mind. “Taking me hostage won’t get you anywhere. I am not as special as you thought. You’ll only get us both killed. This way— ”</p><p class="p1">He bumped Poe on the side with his body, pushed him to a small room, and locked the door.</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">“What now? ” Poe looked down at the boy.</p><p class="p1">“You are a pilot, right?” The boy asked, keeping his voice low, “Can you fly a TIE fighter?”</p><p class="p1">“I can fly anything.” Poe answered with confidence.</p><p class="p1">“Great!” The boy let out a breath. “I can get you on a TIE fighter, but you have to get me out of here.”</p><p class="p1">“Deal.” Poe nodded. “But why?”</p><p class="p1">“Because I’m gonna die if I remain here.” The boy pulled Poe’s hand down and unlocked his binder. “From now on, you are going to listen to me.”</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">He pushed Poe out. He was strong for his age and size, Poe had to give him that. And when they walked into the hangar bay, the boy saddened slowed his steps, and whispered. “Walk slowly.”</p><p class="p1">Poe complied, slowing his pace. He saw the boy raised both hands, fingers curled, as if grabbing something. Then, a pile of crates at the corner started shaking violently. The troopers at the hangar were altered by the sound and went to check.</p><p class="p1">“Go!” The boy motioned with his head and walked quickly toward the nearest TIE fighter.</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">“You are a Force user?” Poe asked as he climbing into the pilot seat. Now everything made sense. “You are a Inquisitor in training?”</p><p class="p1">“Not yet. And never will be.” The boy glanced back at Poe. He looked afraid. “Down there, THAT is all I can do. Inquisitor Phasma is questioning my ability. She brought me here to test me. And when she discovers I’m actually useless, she will kill me. That’s why I have to run away.”</p><p class="p1">For a moment, Poe didn’t know what to say. Growing up, he had numerous brushes with death, but he never knew what did it feel to be under constant fear of being killed. He gave the boy a pat on the back. “You are not useless. You’ll be fine. I’ll get us out of here. I promise.”</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">“Do you know how to uses the gun?” Poe asked as he flipped the switches. But then he regretted— he’s only a boy, how would he…</p><p class="p1">“I was trained to use blaster riffles.”</p><p class="p1"><em>Of course, it’s the Empire! </em>Poe rowed his eyes. He remembered how Leia got mad when she found out Han gave him a pistol when he was only ten years old.</p><p class="p1">But now it seemed the evil deed of the Empire might be a bit helpful. Poe gave the boy a very brief introduction to the weapon system and told him. “It’s not much different from a blaster rifle, just bigger. Just point and shoot. If we ar lucky, you won’t even need to use it!”</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">But they were not that lucky. The sound of alter rang through the hangar bay. Poe had no time to double check on the boy behind.</p><p class="p1">“Hang on!” He yelled, and pulled the fighter up.</p><p class="p1">There’s a sudden thunk, and the TIE fighter jolted. It was attached to the hangar by a cable and couldn’t take off!</p><p class="p1">“What we do now?” The boy cried out in panic.</p><p class="p1">“It’s alright. I can manage.” Poe shouted back, changing the angle of the fighter, trying to get rid of that cable. “Just remember what I told you. If anyone shoot at us, shoot back!”</p><p class="p1">Poe could here gunshots coming behind him, and as the boy let out a loud cry to embolden himself.</p><p class="p1">More gunshots. And the boy’s battle cry became scared shrieks. Finally, the TIE fighter broke the cable and shot into the endless space outside the hangar.</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">Poe didn’t escape from the Star Destroyer right away. Instead, he made a sharp turn and get under the belly of the ship.</p><p class="p1">“We have to take out those canons, or we won’t get very far!” He explained to the boy. “Do you think you can do it?”</p><p class="p1">“I don’t know!” The boy cried. Poe could tell he’s whole body was shaking just from his voice.</p><p class="p1">“Hey. I’m Poe, Poe Dameron.” He tried to calm the boy down by making small talks. “What’s your name?”</p><p class="p1">“FN-2187.” The boy answered. Almost his entire body was now hanging on the weapon controller, only tucking his right foot under the seatbelt to maintain balance. </p><p class="p1">“FN-what?”</p><p class="p1">“FN-2187. That’s the only name they ever gave me.”</p><p class="p1">“That’s not a name! I’m not going to call you that!” Poe frowned and he dodged another set of laser.</p><p class="p1">“FN…How about I call you Finn?”</p><p class="p1">“Finn!” There was a sense of joy in the boy’s voice. “I like this name! My name is Finn now— I see the laser cannon!”</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">With a series of explosions, Finn cheered loudly. “Did you see that? I did it! Poe, did you see that?”</p><p class="p1">“Yes, I did.” Poe replied with a big grin on his face. “Nice job, kid.”</p><p class="p1">Then he turned the fighter again and headed toward the desert planet below.</p><p class="p1">Bring this kid back into danger brought Poe a incredible amount of guilt, but he had to find BB-8 before the Empire did. This is bigger than any of them.</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">“What are you doing!” Finn realized something was not right. “We can’t go to Jakku! We should get as far as possible!”</p><p class="p1">“Sorry, kid. There are things I have to do. But I promise I will protect you.”</p><p class="p1">“No, I’m not going there! This is not what we—”</p><p class="p1">Finn’s protest ended in a scream. One of the missiles from the Star Destroyer hit their TIE fighter. The fighter soon lost control and spiraled down toward the desert of Jakku…</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1">Finn kneeled in the sand, crying uncontrollably.</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">He woke up in the middle of the desert, surprised to be alive. He didn’t have time to get back to his seat. It seemed that seatbelt tangled to his leg saved him.</p><p class="p1">He stood up and looked at his surrounding. There’s sand everywhere. And in the sand not far from him, was the crushed TIE fighter, smoke coming from its engine.</p><p class="p1">Finn tumbled toward the TIE fighter, calling Poe’s name. He rushed to the TIE fighter, stuck his head into the shattered window, trying to find the pilot. But all he could rescue from the fighter is a dirty jacket. As soon as he pulled the jacket out, the fighter shrieked and sank into the sand below.</p><p class="p1">Finn backed away. And to his horror, the TIE fighter exploded before his eyes, and sand rained down all over his body.</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">Finn held the jacket to his chest, still kneeling on the sand, and let tears stream down his face. He cried in anxiety, in sorrow, in uncertainty.The person who just promised to protect him, to take him away, was gone.He didn’t know what to do next, where to go. But at least, now he was able to cry.</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">When he finally stoped crying, Finn decided to go. To where he didn’t know, just following his instinct. He held Poe’s jacket up above his head, shielding him from the scorching sun if Jakku. He dropped his training uniform on the way, only wearing the undersuit. Yet he still felt so hot. His black clothes only made the feeling worse. He felt he was being frizzled by the sun.</p><p class="p1">When he was about sure he was going to die in this desert, Finn saw buildings. Finn was overjoyed by this sight of hope and ran toward it with all the strength he left.</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">This place looked like a marketplace. The harsh environment made the people here as harsh as the desert planet itself. Finn tried to ask for some water, but was only drove away again and again by the locals. Someone even tried to snatch the jacket in his hand! Finn could only hold tight to the jacket and the only weapon he had, his training saber hanging on his belt, and kept his distance from those unfriendly people.</p><p class="p1">Finally, Finn found water. It was a tank meant for the livestocks, but the thirsty boy couldn’t care that much. He rushed to the tank, scooped up water with his hands, and started drinking. That’s not enough for him. Finn got down to his hands and knees, shoved his face into the water, and drank the muddy water like the animal beside him.</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">Finn heard a grating sound, then a orange-and-white BB-unite astromech droid appeared by his side. Finn finished drinking, glanced at the droid, and got up to his feet, ready to leave. But the droid zapped him, making him almost tumble over into the tank.</p><p class="p1">“What’s your problem?”</p><p class="p1">The droid made some unhappy noise.</p><p class="p1">Finn stepped back, wanting to leave from this wacky droid alone. But the droid zapped him again. Meanwhile, he noticed a tall men in black and a little girl was also coming this way. Finn didn’t know who they were or what they want, but he could sense the something dark surrounding the man, something dangerous.</p><p class="p1">Finn pulled the training saber from his belt, ignited it on, holding it in front of his body defensively. But the next second, Finn found he saber turned off by a invisible power and flew out of his grasp into the man’s hand.</p><p class="p1">The man walked toward Finn, and the girl jogged to follow. He looked down at Finn, and switched the saber on and off, watching the red blade appear and disappear.</p><p class="p1">“It is not a really lightsaber,” said the man, “but is not a toy, either.”</p><p class="p1">Finn sat on the ground, dare not to speak.</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">The BB-unit rolled toward the girl, beeping in an accusing tone. The girl listened to the droid’s complain and turning to Finn, arching her browsand pointing a finger at Finn.</p><p class="p1">“Thief!”</p><p class="p1">“What?” The sudden accusation let Finn temporarily forgot to be afraid. He stared at the girl and loudly objected. “I am not thief!”</p><p class="p1">“BB-8 said you stole its master’s jacket!”</p><p class="p1">Finn looked at the jacket, now hanging over his shoulder, and showed it to the droid. “This jacket?”</p><p class="p1">The droid nodded and beeped, probably something mean.</p><p class="p1">Finn glanced at the man. The man did not seem to disturbed by this argument. So he continued to ask. “Is your master a rebel pilot?”</p><p class="p1">The droid nodded again.</p><p class="p1">Finn then signed deeply. “He was captured by the Empire. I got him out. But our fighter was struck by a missile and crushed in the desert. Poe didn’t make it.”</p><p class="p1">BB-8 made a sad noise, lowered its head, and rolled away.</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">“I’m sorry.” The girl offered a hand.</p><p class="p1">“It’s okay.” Taking her hand, Finn finally got up from the ground.</p><p class="p1">“So… are you a rebel?” She asked curiously.</p><p class="p1">“Rebel? Me? No! I mean…maybe?” Finn didn’t know how to answer. He dared not to tell anyone he was a defector of the Empire, but he also didn’t know if rescuing a rebel made him a rebel too.</p><p class="p1">“I don’t think he is.” The man spoke abruptly. He raised the hilt in his hand and stared down at Finn. “You are a Darkside Force-user. I don’t think the Rebel Allience will have people like you.”</p><p class="p1">“Darkside? I’m not! I don’t even know much about the Force!” Finn shook his head vigorously, He sensed the power within the man, so he decided it would be better for him to tell the truth and not upset this man.</p><p class="p1">“I am Force-sensitive, yes. I was taken by the Empire since I was very young, and I was trained in their Inquisitor program. But I know I will not past their tests. So I helped Poe, and let him fly me away from the Empire. That saber is just for training. It can’t kill anyone!”</p><p class="p1">“I know.” The man gave the saber another look, and returned it to Finn. “But it still can cause some serious damage. Be careful with it.”</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">Finn thanked the man and took the saber. And as he was about to ask who they were, the man raised his hand and pushed Finn and the girl to the side with the Force. They both fell into the water tank. A spinning red lightsaber swept over where they just stood.</p><p class="p1">Finn felt his blood went cold. He turned stiffly to the direction where the lightsaber came from. A black figure is walking toward them. Despite the helmet, Finn immediately recognized that figure— the man who appeared in his worst nightmares, Inquisitor Hux.</p><p class="p2">
  
</p><p class="p1">The large animal by the tank was startled. It began to ran. Finn took the chance to stand out of the tank. He then grabbed the girl’s hand and pulled the her up as well.</p><p class="p1">“We have to run!” He told the her.</p><p class="p1">“But— ” The girl looked back with worry on her face.</p><p class="p1">Finn followed her gaze. That man must be crazy! He was walking toward Hux! He know that man was strong with the Force, but that’s Inquisitor Hux!</p><p class="p1">“He’s dead!”</p><p class="p1">Finn’s words made the girl panic. She struggled to get back to her friend. Finn just clutched her wrist tight and dragged her toward the crowd.</p><p class="p1">“Kylo! BB-8!” The girl called.</p><p class="p1">But only the droid heard her calling and quickly caught up with them.</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">Hux was not paying attention to the fleeing children. His focus in now on the man walking toward him. He was young, maybe younger than he looked. He had a body of a full-grown man, tall and muscular, but he was still more of a boy than a grown man. A arrogant, foolish boy.</p><p class="p1">His lightsaber further confirmed Hux’s judgement. That was a peculiar design—a crossguard lightsaber. The blue light of the side blade reflected on the silver hilt, making it a glowing blue cross. It was a weapon as dangerous to its wielder as to the enemy.</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">“Jedi?” Hux smiled underneath his helmet. He rarely encountered someone truly know how to wield a lightsaber. “Unexpected.”</p><p class="p1">“People usually don’t expect their demise.” The young Jedi answered, and charged toward Hux.</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">The Jedi’s attack was swift, yet powerful. But Hux was steady,blocking and dodging each strike. Their training taught them to take aggressive moves, not the defensive styles of the Jedi. But Hux studies the art of defense at his own time. That hobby of his helped him defeat opponents more gifted than he was and got him to where he was now. The spinning lightsaber was overwhelming all by itself. Unreserved attacks would only tired the body out fast. All he needed to do was just wait for his opponent to burn himself out and make a mistake.</p><p class="p1"><em>I am always patient.</em> Hux thought. He touched the switch again, and the spinning blades blocked another strike from the Jedi.</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">Hux’s strategy worked at first. The sudden spin of the blades took the Jedi by surprise. But when he got used to Hux’s little trick, he quickly took back control.</p><p class="p1">A drop of sweat ran down Hux’s face. There seemed to be no limit to the Jedi’s power. Every strike was heavier than the last, yet his movement was still quick and smooth, just in time to counter Hux’s attack, as if he could predict Hux’s every move…</p><p class="p1">Maybe he really could predict his move. Hux thought darkly. This Jedi was probably one of those who were favored by the Force. They could see the future through the Force, while the Force refused to show Hux anything. And Hux eventually accepted that. Looking at the good side, this prevented him from trusting the Force blindly. And when he turned things around and killed those favorites of the Force, Hux felt triumph over the Force.</p><p class="p1">So Hux started to change his moves— aiming at one point with full power, but changing his aim at the last second. This kind of move put him in grave danger, but the surprise on the Jedi’s face told him, it worked.</p><p class="p1">Again and again, he toyed with the arrogant Jedi. Blue blade grazed his body, while his own blade left cut on the Jedi’s black tunic.</p><p class="p1">The Jedi finally had enough. He fended Hux’s lightsaber off, and threw him out with the Force.</p><p class="p1">Hux almost landed on his back if he hadn’t summon the Force to keep balance. He dug his finger into the sand to steady himself and looked up. He saw the Jedi turned off his lightsaber, standing there with a contemptuous gesture.</p><p class="p1">Rage rushed into Hux’s blood. He reignited his lightsaber and slashed it down at the Jedi’s head. He’s going to cut this bustard into pieces!</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">But what the Jedi did next was beyond Hux’s imagination.</p><p class="p1">He didn’t run or dodge. He just reached out with his hands and grabbed Hux’s hands on the lightsaber hilt. Hux tried to pull away, but he couldn’t. This was not even the Force. It’s just the difference in their physical strength!</p><p class="p1">Hux watched as the Jedi’s lip curled into a triumphant smile. Then the Jedi turned the lightsaber off with his mind, yanked out of Hux’s hands and tossed behind.</p><p class="p1">Hux was thrown down on the sandy ground just like his lightsaber. The blue cross of the Jedi’s saber was inches from his face shield.</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">“You are beaten.” The Jedi announced coldly.</p><p class="p1">Hux stared at the glowing blue blade through his face shield. Right then, he heard a familiar sound. The sound of a TIE fighter, closer and closer.</p><p class="p1">“Listen,” Hux laughed, “it is you who are beaten.”</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">The Jedi looked up at the sky, astonished, and quickly turned to look for the two fleeing children. Hux seized the chance and summon his lightsaber. The flying saber forced the Jedi to back a step, but with his sudden movement, the blade in his hand cut off half of Hux’s face shield, revealing a pale face and a green eye.</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">“Jedi.” Hux called in a hoarse voice— the fear of coming so close to death made his throat tight. “Who are you?”</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">His enemy already ran pass him toward the children. The hot wind of the desert sent his answer into Hux’s ear.</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">“The name is Kylo Ren, and I am no Jedi.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I paid a little homage to Star Wars Rebels. The lightsaber fight between Ben and Hux is basically a recreation of the fight between Ashoka and Seventh Sister in Rebels. <br/>I have to confess that I didn’t finish watching the Clone Wars, but I still love Ahsoka just from Rebels.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter 4</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1">When Ben Solo caught up with the two kids, they were being chased by a few stormtroopers. He was bit surprised by the boy’s lightsaber skills. Although due to the limitation of his saber, he wasn’t able to deflect blaster bolts back at those troopers, but he was skilled enough to keep him and Rey from getting shot. And Ben could feel the fear within him. He know dark side Force users could gain strength in fear, but he’s afraid the fear piling up within the boy was too much for him to to convert.</p><p class="p1">As if to prove his point, the boy began to panic under the nonstopping blaster fire, and there was a breach in his defense. Ben raised one hand to stop the blaster bolt in midair, and pushed that stormtrooper back with the other hand. The sudden appearance of a new enemy drew the troopers’ attention, and gave the boy a moment to breathe.</p><p class="p1">“Wow!” As Ben direct the blast bolt into the sand, the boy looked to him, amazed. “This is awesome! You must be a Jedi master!”</p><p class="p1">“I’m not.” Ben said stiffly. He hated called Jedi. “The last Jedi died in Endor twenty-one years ago.”</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">After Ben finished off those stormtroopers, the roaring TIE fighters appeared above their heads.</p><p class="p1">“Run!” Ben shouted to the boy and the droid. He picked Rey up, holding her under his arm, and ran toward the market. Behind them, the gunfire from the fighters kicked up a fume of sand and dust.</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">They took cover at the market, but the Imperial TIE fighters clearly didn’t have much care on the backwater lowlifes here. Explosions went off around them, companied with fire and waves of heat.</p><p class="p1">“Do you have a ship?” The boy shouted. “We have to leave! Or when they bomb this place to ground, there won’t be another place to hide in the desert!”</p><p class="p1">Ben rolled his eyes. Of course he had a ship, or how did his come here? His ship was just stolen by a bunch of scavenger thieves when he was saving Rey from the hands of a Inquisitor. He was trying to get his ship back when that boy showed up. But now it seems the theft might be a good thing, because his ship was right at the junkyard nearby.</p><p class="p1">But when they were about to reach the ship, a laser bolt blew the whole ship into flaming pieces in front of their eyes.</p><p class="p1">Ben cursed under his breath. He could only change his course and ran toward another dictration.</p><p class="p1">“There!” Rey under his arm pointed her finger at the farther part of the junkyard. “Unkar has other stolen ships there!”</p><p class="p1">Ben followed Rey’s direction. He could see three or four ships parking there, all in good condition. Yet he slowed down by a dirty old YT-1300 light freighter.</p><p class="p1">“Not this one!” Rey waved her arms in objection. “Unkar bought this one from some Imperials as scrap metal! I don’t think it can fly!”</p><p class="p1">“It’s worth a try.” Ben said, motioning the boy to follow. Rey was kicking and yelling all the way but to no avail. They were getting that ship.</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">As soon as Ben put her down inside the ship, Rey immediately gave him a hard kick on the calf. Ben frowned a little, but told himself don’t take offence at a kid.</p><p class="p1">“Find safe spot, buckle up.” He ordered. Then he ran into the cockpit.</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">This is the Millennium Falcon. Although Ben only had very vague memory about it, he still could recognize it at the first sight. This ship belonged to his father Han Solo. Twenty years ago, he was born on this ship.This was his home, until Ashoka took him away. Sadly, these were all he know about this ship.</p><p class="p1">Now, as if guided by the Force, he was back on this ship. And Ben only hope this ship could finally bring him home.</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">Ben was a excellent pilot. Ashoka always said he inherit his flying talent from his grandfather Anakin Skywalker. However, Ben always believed he got it from his father, though he only knew his father from a family portrait he carried on him. Anankin Skywalker was a great Jedi, a legendary hero, but his father, Han Solo, was a more admirable pilot and adventurer.</p><p class="p1">When all the excitement and nostalgia cooled down, Ben began to doubt how did his father go on adventures in this thing. It was obvious that the Empire did some damage to this ship after they captured it, but even before that, this thing was already on the edge of being scrapped.</p><p class="p1">Nevertheless, now it’s too late to regret— not that Ben regret getting aboard. He could only pray this ship still could fly while turning on the controls, trying to pull the ship up.</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">His father’s legendary ship didn’t disappoint Ben after all. Although wobbled a bit along the way, it still got up in the air without any more problem and accelerated in seconds. The TIEs behind fired at them. Ben could only keep the ship close to the ground and try to outrun them. He knew the Falcon had cannons, but he couldn’t expect those two kids to be his gunner. He remembered when he was landing on Jakku, he saw a massive wreckage of a Super Star Destroyer. It was there since the Battle of Jakku, when the Rebel Alliance was at its peak. If he lure the TIE fighters there, maybe he can use the complex landscape to get them to crash.</p><p class="p1">As they entered the shipwreck, the first TIE fighter quickly fell into Ben’s trap, crashed on a protruding part of the wreck. But the second pilot was smarter and more careful. He looked through Ben’s plan, forcing him to make sharp turns. Ben heard some clunking noise behind in the ship, then the complaining beep of the droid. He only hoped the children were not flying across the ship like the droid.</p><p class="p1">Suddenly, there was a explosion, and the TIE fighter disappeared from his radar screen. Ben wasn’t sure what happened at first, but then he heard the children’s cheers in the comlink. Apparently they did go for the cannon and were quite good at it.</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">The ship exited Jakku’s atmosphere. The two kids climbed down into the cockpit in excitement. Ben gave each a encouraging pat on the back then got up to find tools to repair the ship. Although it gave a excellent performance during the chase, the Falcon was still on the edge of coming apart. Ben just hoped it could at least last until they get to… Then did he realized he didn’t know where to go. Ahsoka told him to meet her on Jakku, but after what just happened, they couldn’t stay on Jakku any longer. And Ashoka didn’t tell him where was their final destination. An action of caution, he assumed, but it did more harm than good under this circumstance.</p><p class="p1">BB-8 peeked its head from above, watching him working at the engines in the lower level. Rey and the boy— now he knew his name was Finn— offered to help, but Finn knew nothing about fixing a ship. Rey, on the other hand, was surprisingly knowledgeable about ships and machines. Ben guessed she learned those from her work as a scavanger— collecting ship parts and trade them for food and water.</p><p class="p1">“BB-8.” Ben standed up to look at the droid. “Do you know the location of the your rebel base?” But really, he didn’t expect to get an answer. Usually, a droid’s memory would be regularly wiped for safety reasons.</p><p class="p1">BB-8 hesitated a bit, then nodded.</p><p class="p1">Ben was surprised. The the droid beeped something that even surprised him more.</p><p class="p1">“You never got your memory wiped?”</p><p class="p1">He didn’t know this pilot Dameron, but that man clearly put too much confidence in his droid.</p><p class="p1">BB-8 nodded again, then rolled into the cockpit, plugged into the nav computer, and uploaded the coordinates.</p><p class="p1">Ben climbed back up and followed it into the cockpit. He saw the coordinates and frowned.</p><p class="p1">“Ileenium System? You built a based in Ileenium System?”</p><p class="p1">BB-8 responded to his doubt with a series of unhappy sound. Ben signed and got back into the pilot seat. He double checked the coordinates before pressing down the control to under hyperspace.</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">Rey sat on the co-pilot seat and looked at the bright star stripes in awe. Finn leaned on the back of her seat, looking worried.</p><p class="p1">Ben glanced at Finn, struggled a bit in his mind, and finally said. “Relax. The Empire can’t get us now.”</p><p class="p1">Trying to comfort a child made Ben felt weird, and he bagan to think if Ahsoka felt the same when she first took him as a much younger child.</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">“Hey, so you got your ass in Millennium Falcon.”</p><p class="p1">A man’s voice made everyone almost jumped out of their seat. A hologram appeared in front of them. Static at first, then clear.</p><p class="p1">“You got the coordinates, so I hope you are part of the Rebel Alliance. If not, at least not Imperial.”</p><p class="p1">In the background came a sound of Wookiee roaring.</p><p class="p1">The person in the hologram was Han Solo. Even though he was much older than in the picture, Ben still recognized his father at first glance. He felt his eyes began to burn. Tears welled up in his eyes. He was afraid he might cry in front of the kids…</p><p class="p1">“But if you somehow are an Imperial dog, well…”</p><p class="p1">A string of curse words made Ben blinked back his tears. He moved his head, and saw Rey was staring at the hologram with wide eyes. Ben pulled the young girl over, and covered her ears.</p><p class="p1">After the cursing, Han shifted his posture, getting closer to the mic.</p><p class="p1">“I don’t have much time. So if you are a friend, I want you to do something for me. I was about to say I’ll thank you with my life, but I truly don’t know how long will my life last. In short, I thank you in advance.”</p><p class="p1">“It’s not a very difficult task, or maybe it is. Who knows.”</p><p class="p1">“Enough for the nonsense. I just want you to gave this holo, the one you are watching now, to my son, Ben.”</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">“I haven’t seen him for a long time. And before I die, I want to speak to my son.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I didn't read the Aftermath trilogy when I wrote this story. I just finished listening all three books and learned how the Battle of Jakku played out. Now I realize if Vader was still alive and the Empire was to continue, the Battle of Jakku would probably ended differently. <br/>But for this story’s sake, let’s just say that most things were the same as in the Aftermath books, since Vader needed time to heal himself and seize power as the Emperor. But at the end of the Battle of Jakku, instead of Sloane, it was Vader who choked the life out of Rax (gosh, I hate Gallius Rax). The Empire suffered less casualties than in the original timeline, and the New Republic had a harder time to secure their victory, which allowed the Empire to regroup under Vader’s command and eventually push back (they still lost SSD Ravager though, since that’s the wreckage Rey flew through in TFA, and Ben did the same in this story).</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Chapter 5</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1">“Hey, kid.”</p><p class="p1">Han smiled at his imaginary son. Then he paused, as if didn’t know what to say. He pursed his lips, then let out a long sign.</p><p class="p1">“I miss you, son,”</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">Rey wasn’t feeling comfortable looking at someone else’s recording for his son. She wanted to warn Kylo this wasn’t right, but Finn tapped on her shoulder and gently shook his head. Rey looked at Kylo’s face. She could’t read his expression, but somehow she could feel a storm of emotion inside him. She jumped out of her seat, quietly left the cockpit with Finn. BB-8 stayed behind the seats, cocked its domed head, looking at the image of Han, then the young man in the pilot seat, and finally decided to leave as well.</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">“You were only five when you left me and your mother. It has been so many years. I can’t even image what you look like now. But I’m sure you are a handsome young man— you are my son after all! And I’m also sure you are a great Jedi, just like Luke. I wasn’t so happy about the whole train you to be a Jedi thing at first, but I have confidence in you. That power is in your blood.”</p><p class="p1">“To be honest, sometimes I felt jealous of your mother, because the connection between you and her is something I could never have. She can see you through the Force. Well, not really see. She can feel you in the Force.” He let out a chuckle. “I don’t have to explain that to you. You know how that works better than I do. What I’m saying is, I’m glad you two are connected in that way. It let us know you are safe. That’s all we ask for.”</p><p class="p1">There’s a explosion in the background. Then a furry hand grabbed Han by his shoulder. Han looked back, than pushed the hand off.</p><p class="p1">“Chewie, let me finish.”</p><p class="p1">He turned to the recorder again, his time, he talked faster.</p><p class="p1">“Listen, Ben. I wish when you are seeing this, everything has been fine. but if they’re not, I want you to take care of your mother, and yourself. I know many people will see you as ‘the Chosen One’ or “the hope of the galaxy.’ You don’t need to listen to them. You are just me and your mother’s son. Do what you think is right.”</p><p class="p1">“I’m not a sentimental person, but this is the end. If I don’t say it now, I’m afraid I won’t have the chance.”</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">“I love you, Ben.”</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">The recording ended.</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">Ben stared at the holoprojector. After a while, he pressed the button, and the recording started again.</p><p class="p1">For the remaining time in hyperspace, Ben played Han’s recording over and over. Rey and Finn watched him by the door but decided not to interrupt. They didn’t know why Kylo watched that hologram so many times, but they both could sense his sorrow.</p><p class="p1">By the end of the journey, Ben could recite every single word Han said in that holo. When the ship exited hyperspace, the planet D’Qar came into view, Han just finished saying another “I love you, Ben,”</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">“I know, Dad.” Ben whispered.</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">The Falcon entered D’Qar’s atmosphere, and BB-8 transmitted the clearance code to the ground. When the Falcon landed, General Leia Organa was waiting there, along with many others. Confusion was written on everyone’s face— the Empire broadcast the capture of the Millennium Falcon across the galaxy, as a great victory over the rebels.</p><p class="p1">Ben walked out from the Falcon. Rey and Finn was behind him. He immediately recognized the woman before him was his mother. But Leia’s face told him, she was hoping for someone else. He watched that spark of hope disappeared in her eyes, turned into a sad look. But when Ben walked down the ramp toward her, her eyes widened. She might not recognize his face, but she could recognize him through the Force. Leia walked up to him, and hugged her son.</p><p class="p1">Ben put his arm around Leia and hugged her back. His chest was filled with so many emotions, he could not find a word for it.</p><p class="p1">“Welcome home, son.” He heard Leia said.</p><p class="p1">Ben smiled, almost bursted in tears. It wasn’t the reunion he dreamed of— that would always be a dream. But at this moment, he felt like a ship, drifting in space for so long, finally landed.</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">“Hey, kid!” A voice came from behind Leia. Ben raised his head, and saw a man in pilot jumpsuit waving at his direction. Both Finn and BB-8 made an overjoyed sound, and rushed into the man’s open arms.</p><p class="p1">Leia let go of Ben. She turned back, looking at the young pilot. “That’s Poe Dameron. His our best pilot after your father was…”</p><p class="p1">Her gaze drifted back to Ben and landed on the jacket over his shoulder, the one Finn left on the co-pilot chair.</p><p class="p1">“This jacket…” Leia raised her eyebrow, surprised. “Is this Poe jacket?”</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">The smile forze on Ben’s face— his mother didn’t recognized her own son at first look, but could recognized a stranger’s clothes.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Yes, Han was dead. And that changed things. Ben left his parent at a very young age, so parents to him were more of a imaginary figures. Because of the Force connection, he would feel closer to Leia, thus having a higher expectation. So when he finally met his parents— Han’s death meant he would forever be this perfect father in Ben’s imagination, but Leia wasn’t the perfect mother Ben hoped her to be. Ben Solo was still that manbaby as Kylo Ren, just facing a different set of relationships.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Chapter 6</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1">Hux sat in his office on Arkanis. Light in the office was dim, leaving everything in a shade of grey. He could adjust the light to make it brighter, but Hux left it that way because he felt this may help him meditate.</p>
<p class="p1">Meditation wasn’t a part of Inquisitor’s training. It was a tradition of Jedi and Sith. Clearly, their emperor did not think them as something even close as those two. So Hux didn’t know the right way or the expected result of mediation. He was just experimenting, adjusting his thoughts, trying to connect to the Force in a different way.</p>
<p class="p1">Most of his mediation ended in nightmares. Sometimes there were strange illusions, but more times his dark past, like now—</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <em>He curled on the floor. Unbearable agony was chewing on every single nerve in his body. Yet he could not move, dare not to scream, fearing a slightest move might cost him his life.</em>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <em>A lightsaber wound wouldn’t bleed, but it also sealed the pain inside.</em>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <em>Emperor Vader’s black shadow looming over him, like phantom from another dimension.</em>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <em>“Pathetic.” He snorted, his voice distorted by machine.</em>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <em>Hux didn’t dare to look up at his emperor, his body trembling in pain and in fear.</em>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <em>“I wish you to learn from this lesson.” Vader continued, the crimson blade of his lightsaber left a charred mark on the floor.</em>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <em>“Yes, yes, your majesty.” Hux wasn’t sure how he could manage to squeeze words out of his throat. “I’m sorry. Please forgive me…”</em>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">Hux opened his eyes, locks of sweat-soaked hair stuck on his forehead.</p>
<p class="p1">The wound underneath his uniform has reduced to a line across his chest, making him appeared to be cut in half and sewed back up— maybe that was the case. Vader only allowed the medical droids to pick him up after he has lost consciousness. And those droids never talked to him, leaving him wondering alone in fear.</p>
<p class="p1">It was that last time Vader “trained” him, a punishment for his foolish attempt to deceive his emperor with predetermined thoughts.</p>
<p class="p1">And the punishment didn’t end there. The treatment was also long and painful, like a torture of a sort. By the time Vader gave him his next assassination assignment, his wound was still not fully healed.</p>
<p class="p1">But Hux didn’t complain. He learn early one that if one didn’t have the power to make changes, hatrad and complaint were only waste of energy. He also had a feeling— it he could finish this mission alive, the Emperor would finally recognize his value.</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">His feeling was right. The reward Vader gave him exceeded his expectation.</p>
<p class="p1">He as appointed as supervisor of the Arkanis Academy, overseeing all training programs. His new position gave him equal, or even more power than his father, Brendol Hux.</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">At first, Brendol treated him as the boy he once was, and he played along, pretending the be the obedient son Brendol expected him to be. That old fool was as arrogant as before, but he was not the dumb boy who dived head first into the hell-pit of Inquisitorius just for the illusion of a father. He watched and learned patiently, taking everyone Brendol knew and owned into his own hands.</p>
<p class="p1">And then, here inside this office which once belonged to Brendol, he had his revenge—</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <em>When the hatch door was sealed, all his power and prestige locked outside, of course an ordinary old man was not match to a Imperial Inquisitor.</em>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <em>Looking down upon the man he once called father, Hux realized he was so small, so old, so weak. The red light from his blade illuminated his face. His face used to be filled with pride, but now there was only fear. Looking at this face, Hux felt pity for his former self, who was so sacred of such worthless piece of junk.</em>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <em>“You can’t do this!” Brendol still tried to scrape together what’s left of his authority, but his trembling voice undid his effort, “It was I who sent you to the Inquisitor training! It was I who made you what you are!”</em>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <em>“Yes. You sent me to the Inquisitor program.” Hux sneered, “But I survived it by myself.”</em>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <em>“You were just a jittering little boy, so afraid that you want to just waste your ability. I had to give you a push.”</em>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <em>Hux tilted his head, as if thinking back at the past, “I was foolish and shortsighted then, but I am no longer that child.</em>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <em>“I am not an ungrateful man. I thank you for everything you made me learn, and everything you made me go through, father.” Hux gave a cold smiled, “I will give you the honor you deserve—</em>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <em>“You will be the hero who protected the Academy and the Empire’s future, a martyr of Rebel’s assassination. Your name will be praised among the Imperials, just as you always dreamed.”</em>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <em>“No…” The despair in Brendol’s eyes seemed so strange to Hux’s eyes. In his memory, the man was always proud and cold, nothing like the creature before him.</em>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <em>“Armi…”</em>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <em>Brendol tried to call his name, but Hux didn’t give him the chance to finish. With a swipe of his blade, the man’s head fell on the ground. There wasn’t a single drop of blood— the heat of the blade sealed all the veins.</em>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <em>Clean and easy, that’s why Hux love his weapon.</em>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">Hux’s lips curled into a smile. If he was still able to feel grateful, he would thank the Emperor for his arrangement. He was certain Vader knew what he’s going to do, and maybe their new emperor has grown tired of letting Palpatine’s old officials run his empire.</p>
<p class="p1">But now his hard-earned position was threatened by a mysterious Jedi. That Kylo Ren took the map, and the Emperor would not tolerant such complete failure. He needed to find something to make up for that.</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">Hux grabbed his shattered helmet to his side and plugged it into the computer. The new generation of Inquisitors’ helmets has recording devices similar to those of stormtroopers. Besides monitoring their actions, it also serves as a reminder— they were just soldiers, weapons, nothing more.</p>
<p class="p1">Hux was one of only two Inquisitors given the right to view the recordings of their own helmets, the other one being Phasma. It’s a privilege, but also pressure— if he ever misused this privilege, even once, it would be the end of him.</p>
<p class="p1">Hux watched the recording of his dual with Kylo Ren frame by frame, trying to find anything that could hint at the origin of this Jedi. Despite the man denied it, Hux didn’t believe anyone other than Jedi could do what he did.</p>
<p class="p1">Rewatching the scene once again reminded Hux how meaningless his clever tricks were before true, superior power. He felt shame and anger built inside him. His fist clutched, almost crushed the helmet in his hand.</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">Suddenly, Hux paused the vid: for a second, Kylo Ren’s robe fluttered up, revealing another lightsaber hanging on his belt.</p>
<p class="p1">Hux enlarge the image, examining closely at the hilt. He realized he recognize that lightsaber, and Vader just might find this finding interesting enough, that he might overlook his failure—</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">That lightsaber once belonged to none other than Luke Skywalker.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Chapter 7</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1">Hux kneeled before the holoimage of the Emperor, took a quick glance at the image and then lowered his gaze. He didn’t dare to look Vader in the eye, despite the fact he was at Arkanis. Vader couldn’t read his mind from the other side of the galaxy, nor could he choke him with the Force, but if Vader decided his failure is unforgivable, he’d better finish himself before Vader came to deal with him.</p><p class="p1">“You have failed me, Inquisitor.” Through the comm, Vader’s voice sounded even more inhuman that it already was.</p><p class="p1">Hux could feel cold sweat ran down his neck.</p><p class="p1">“However,” Vader continued, “that lightsaber… Find out how he got hold of Skywalker’s lightsaber, and bring him to me. This is your last chance, Inquisitor Hux.”</p><p class="p1">“Yes, your majesty, I will not disappoint you.” Hux bowed his head in deference.</p><p class="p1">The comm cut off.</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">Hux exhaled a long breathe and got up from his kneeling position. He had guessed right, Luke Skywalker’s lightsaber and the young Jedi aroused great interest in Vader.</p><p class="p1">Hux went back to his desk, pushed the broken helmet aside. Feeling something not right, he suddenly raised his head, looking at the office door, frowning. Then, with one hand pushed the button to open the door, Hux took his lightsaber from his back and threw it toward the figure outside as the door opened.</p><p class="p1">The figure was caught off guard, but still dodged the blade, and caught it midair as it circled back.</p><p class="p1">Phasma straightened her body, switched off the lightsaber in her hand, and stepped into the office, as if she wasn’t creeping at the door a second ago. She was still in full uniform, like they had become a part of her body. Black uniform with a helmet and face shield covering her from head to toe, along with her abnormally large body, made her more monster than human. And maybe that’s exactly what she wanted.</p><p class="p1">But her look never intimidates Hux, he knew Phasma all too well.</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">“So, didn’t hear what you hoped?” Hux spoke in a sarcastic tone, “Your dream was so close from coming true.”</p><p class="p1">“I haven’t realized you want so desperately to kill me.” Phasma might be surprised, but her helmet hid all her emotions— if she had any, “Don’t forget, I chose you over Brendol— and Brendol was like a father to me.”</p><p class="p1">Hux sneered with despise, “You chose your ambition, Phasma. Don’t think I haven’t learned what you did to you own father and mother and everyone on Parnassos who you once called ‘family’ and ‘friends’, just to leave that hatch planet with my father.”</p><p class="p1">As he spoke, Hux saw Phasma clutched his lightsaber tighter in her hand, and he enjoyed seeing human emotion and weaknesses creeping the machine-like woman—</p><p class="p1">“Oh, and that crippled brother of yours, whom you left for dead. What’s his name again? … Keldo.”</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">With a flash of red, two lightsaber crossed at Hux’s throat. But Hux smiled— he had touched Phasma’s weak point. Since the day she arrived at Arkanis, her past on that savage planet had become something she desperately wanted to bury.</p><p class="p1">“Look, now who’s desperate to kill?”</p><p class="p1">“To die at the same place in the same way as your father, I think it’s fitting to you.” Even the voice changer in her helmet could conceal the anger in Phasma’s words.</p><p class="p1">“Then do it,” Hux taunted, “and tell the Emperor it is another Rebel assassination?”</p><p class="p1">The angle between the blades narrowed,as if to cut Hux’s head clean off his shoulder, but the moment the blades about the touch Hux’s neck, Phasma switched both lightsabers off.</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">A victorious smile appeared across Hux’s face, and he pulled back his lightsaber from Phasma’s hand with the Force.</p><p class="p1">“You should be glad the Emperor didn’t fly into a rage over what happened on Jakku, or it wouldn’t take long for him to know, that traitor who attributed to the failure, FN-2187, was from your training program. At that time, you would face a consequence no better than me.”</p><p class="p1">Plasma snorted under her helmet.</p><p class="p1">“Don’t be so hostile, we worked well together so far.” Hux continued to smile as he put his lightsaber back in place, “I presume you’ve heard the Emperor’s new assignment— capture that Jedi. ”</p><p class="p1">“That’s <em>your</em> mission.” Phasma seemed to be crowing over the difficult task laid before him with no intention to help.</p><p class="p1">“But you never miss a chance to please the Emperor.”</p><p class="p1">Phasma said nothing, simply turned and walked out the office.</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">Hux watched as Phasma left, thinking back to the the day Brendol brought back the tall, Force-sensitive girl. By then Hux has shown his incapability in controlling the Force, and Phasma was Brendol’s warning to him— he had found a backup, and Hux could be discarded at anytime.</p><p class="p1">Yet from Arkanis to Coruscant, Hux used many years afterward to pin Phasma at her initial position, a backup. Phasma must heat him so much, but he didn’t care, for he held her unspeakable past. It couldn’t be seen as a crime, but no one liked or would trust someone so despicable and heartless. Phasma couldn’t let that threaten her career, she was too ambitious.</p><p class="p1">What he didn’t expect was Phasma was right outside when he murdered Brendol, very much like what happened today. So now Phasma held something over him too, and he had to gave her the Inquisitor training program in exchange for her silence. That’s when Hux really began to hate this woman.</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">And he wasn’t the only one here who hated Phasma— Hux smirked as he saw a figure in special red stormtrooper armor appeared at the other side of the corridor. And when he walked pass Phasma, he turned his body in disgust, avoiding his black cape touching her.</p><p class="p1">Captain Cardinal,the head of the training programs of regular troopers in Arkanis Academy, and someone Hux knew during his time at the Academy as a cadet. Cardinal, still called CD-0922 back then, was the only person Hux didn’t utterly hate during his short years in program. </p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">Hux was younger than the average age when he was put into the Academy by his father. Small and slim, he became an easy target for mockery and bullying, and the fact that he could still keep his name made him stood out even more.</p><p class="p1">CD-0922 was quite the opposite. The boy from Jakku was tall and strong, conscientious and serious, a perfect example, leader of the cadets.</p><p class="p1">And Brendol’s favorite.</p><p class="p1">Hux could imagine how much Brendol hoped CD-0922 to be Force-sensitive. That boy saw Brendol as a father, no, he worshiped him like a god. And, compared to him, Brendol seemed to treat CD-0922 more like a son.</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">Maybe its because of Brendol, or maybe he just saw bullying a weak child beneath him, for the time Hux spent in the Academy, CD-0922 acted as his protector. And after he returned Arkanis years later, especially after Brendol’s death, CD-0922, now given the name Cardinal by Brendol, had resumed his old role. Whether it’s out of guilt for not saving Brendol, or out of his old habit, Hux didn’t know, and he couldn’t care less.</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">Hux smirked to himself as Cardinal walked to him and gave reports on the training programs, then euphemistically warned him about Phasma—<em>What a righteous fool! </em>But on a second thought, he might a useful tool to keep Phasma under check.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I love Archex so much, I couldn't help but to include him in my story. ( I refuse to call him Captain Cardinal. The First Order doesn't deserve him! )</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Chapter 8</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1">Ben was assigned the same room as Poe, and he hated it. He couldn’t shake the thought that Leia did this on purpose, letting Poe show him how to be a perfect son, though he knew it was a ridiculous idea.</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">When Ben came in with his blanket and sheet, Poe was still cleaning the pile of things he put on the upper bunk. Ben had not patience for that. He held his bedding under one arm, and raised the other. Everything on the upper bunk suddenly floated into midair, then dropped on the floor.</p><p class="p1"><em>Show off. </em>Poe rolled his eyes. By now he had already be introduced to his new roommate: who he was, why he’s here. And he felt angry about it.</p><p class="p1">How could he not be angry? He had nothing against Master Tano or Ben Solo, but for fifteen years, no one had heard a word from them, and they were nowhere to be seen when the Rebel Alliance needed them. Those innocent villagers died because both Rebel and the Empire were looking for them. He almost died trying to recover their location!</p><p class="p1">And now this guy just walked in like it’s not a big deal, as if the lost suffered by the Alliance and civilian, the nightmare Poe had been through, was just a simply misunderstanding.</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">Ben knew Dameron didn’t like him. He didn’t have the habit of reading others’ thoughts with the Force. He simply read it from Poe’s face. This made him dislike Poe even more— a grown man who needed rescue from a teenage boy, what did Leia see in him?</p><p class="p1">He didn’t want to admit he was jealous, but his bond with his mother through the Force was the only connection he had with his family, and he cherished it dearly, even more than his love of his master Ahsoka.</p><p class="p1">But now he found out maybe Leia didn’t care for him the same way he did for her— that pilot took his place in Leia’s heart.</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">Poe swept everything under the bunk, then lay on his bed. He saw Ben walking toward the bunk and roll away from the edge— just in case Mr. Long-Face decided to “accidentally” step on his face while climbing the ladder.</p><p class="p1"><em>Bang</em>.</p><p class="p1">Poe almost laughed out loud when he heard the noise. There’s no doubt the taller man had bumped his head on the ceiling. The space between his bed and ceiling was to small for him.</p><p class="p1">Ben tossed and turned on his bed uncomfortably, and the bed frame wiggled with him. Poe was about to tell him to stop, when then entire bunk began to shake, then came apart, each part floating in the air. Poe didn’t know what the Force user was up to, so he could only lie very still on his bed. The upper bunk seemed crushing down toward him— but it stopped after lowering a little bit. Ben lowered his bed by two slots, then reassembled the bunk.</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">“You must be kidding me.” Poe kicked the bottom of Ben’s bed. It didn’t budge under Ben’s heavy weight.</p><p class="p1">The bed frame shook again— <em>That jerk must be laughing!</em></p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">Poe was awoken at middle of the night by knockings on the door. His half awake mind thought it was an emergency, so he jump out of his bed and began to suit up. He hopped to the door as he trying to get his other leg into his jumpsuit. Only after he opened the door did he realize he overreacted—</p><p class="p1">Standing at the door was Rey, the young girl Ben Solo brought here. Her eyes were red from crying. She looked up at Poe and whimpered, “Is Kylo here?”</p><p class="p1">“Who?” Poe was confused.</p><p class="p1">“She means me.”</p><p class="p1">Ben suddenly appeared behind Poe. <em>How did he manage to move around without making any sound?</em></p><p class="p1">Ben pushed Poe aside and let Rey in. He turned on a small lamp on the desk, crouched down before her, and asked, “What’s wrong?”</p><p class="p1">“I had a bad dream.” Rey said, rubbing her eyes with the back of her hand, “Can I stay with you? Just tonight.”</p><p class="p1">Ben looked at the sobbing girl, then at the bunk bed, sighed, “Okay, just tonight.”</p><p class="p1">He then turned to Poe, “Dameron, let’s switch bed for tonight.”</p><p class="p1">Having a little girl in his room made Poe more than a little bit uncomfortable, but considering this girl just escaped from the hands of Imperial Inquisitors, she certainly needed the company of someone she trusted.</p><p class="p1">“Alright.” He replied, and climbed up.</p><p class="p1">Ben put Rey in the lower bunk, then Poe’s blanket was tossed to him.</p><p class="p1">“Give me my blanket.” Ben’s voice came from below, “Mine is new.”</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">After Rey finally fell asleep, Ben was slowly drifting into sleep as well. Then he heard a quiet sobbing, and a slurred cry of “Come back!” Ben opened his eyes: the room was dark, but he could see Rey’s small hand reaching out, as if trying to grab something. He sat up, bumping his head again in process, and gently touched her forehead. Carefully, he reached out with the Force.</p><p class="p1">He almost immediately felt waves emotions in Rey’s mind: fear, sadness, confusion…and yearning for someone, much like how he felt when he was a child, alone, and away from his parents. Underneath that storm of emotions, Ben also sensed something else, something dark, hidden away, just out of his reach… Ben shivered, instinctively wanting to pull his hand away, but he didn’t. Ben couldn’t remember if he ever had such nightmare, but he knew Ahsoka had sensed something similar, maybe even dark, within him. His master chose to help him, guide him away from the darkness. He should try to do the same.</p><p class="p1">Ben turned his attention away from thee darkness, focused on calming Rey’s emotions instead. Under Ben’s guidance, Rey slowly calmed down. She stopped sobbing, her breath steady.</p><p class="p1">Ben exhaled a long breath. He tenderly tucked Rey’s hand back into blanket, but a soft grip seized his movement— the girl was awake, staring at him with wide eyes.</p><p class="p1">“You are a good person, Kylo.” Rey gave Ben a little squeeze in his palm, “Don’t be afraid. You are nice.”</p><p class="p1">Ben was stunned for a moment, then realized the girl’s connection to the Force was far stronger than he thought. When he was checking her mind, she somehow uncovered his deep buried feelings as well.</p><p class="p1">“Thank you.” Ben replied, not knowing what else to say, “And…er… my name is Ben Solo, actually.”</p><p class="p1">“Thank you, Ben.” Ben didn’t have to see to know Rey was smiling.</p><p class="p1">“Okay, sleep now.” Ben tucked the blanket around her, and lay down beside her, “Good night.”</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">Poe woke from sleep, panting. Under him, Ben and Rey was sound asleep. He blankly stared at the ceiling. The burning fire in his nightmare cooled into sticky sweat on his skin. He opened his mouth, screaming soundlessly.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Chapter 9</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1">“Didn’t sleep well last night?” Ben asked after sending Rey back to her room.</p><p class="p1">I hardly slept at all. Poe corrected in his mind. That Inquisitor named Hux must did something to him. When ever he closed his eyes, he was back in the interrogation room, reliving the nightmare. But he wasn’t about to tell Ben or anyone. He didn’t want Leia and others to worry about him for a few bad dreams.</p><p class="p1">“I just need some caf.” Poe said. He splashed some cold water on his face to keep himself awake, and went out of the room.</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">Ben didn’t see Poe for the entire morning. He didn’t know what he should do right now. Ahsoka sent him to help the Alliance, but he hadn’t heard from her since. Ben took a walk around the base— everyone was busy with their own task, but except him. He thought about going to his mother, but eventually decided not to. Asking parents what to do, only kids would do that. If the Rebels need anything, they would just come and ask.</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">Poe came to him in the afternoon.</p><p class="p1">“Ben Solo.” he called. He usually wouldn’t call his colleagues by their full names, but he couldn’t know how else to address him. They weren’t close enough be on a first-name basis, but calling him Solo made Poe think of Han. It still hurt.</p><p class="p1">“Leia sent be to get you to the situation room. Fulcrum contacted us.”</p><p class="p1">Ben stood up from his bed and followed Poe. He knew the codename “Fulcrum,” it was established as by his master Ahsoka Tano at her younger age and was shared by a group of Rebel intelligence. Considering the timing of this contact, it was probably Ahsoka, and Ben couldn’t wait to hear from his master.</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">In the situation room, all was standing around a large holotable. A hologram of the Fulcrum symbol was at the center of the table. Ben was surprised to find Rey and Finn here; they were too young to be envolved in battles.</p><p class="p1">Sensing his confusion, Leia turned to him and explained, “We are talking about the Imperial Inquisitors. Since they have been victims of the Inquisitors, I think they have the right to know more.”</p><p class="p1">She turned to the holotable and spoke to the comm, “He’s here. You can continue.”</p><p class="p1">“Okay.” Ahsoka’s masked voice came from the comm, “Sorry I can’t be here myself. It would be resky for all of us. Ever since we lost contact with General Solo several month ago, I realize Vader might finally catch up to us, and we can’t hide forever. I’m sorry I wasn’t able to tell you beforehand. Your agents must take great risks trying to locate us.”</p><p class="p1">“No apology need, Fulcrum.” Leia said.</p><p class="p1">Her gaze landed on Poe, and he gave her a reassuring smile.</p><p class="p1">“There has been some trouble, but everything turned out well in the end. Thanks to a friend.” Leia smiled at Finn as she spoke the words. Finn blushed and shyly lowered his gaze.</p><p class="p1">Ahsoka sounded relieved, “I’m glad to hear that. The Empire and Vader know me too well, so I have to go separate ways with my apprentice. I was going to meet up with him but had to change plan after what happened on Jakku. I am a prime target, and now would only bring more danger to you than assistance. I believe my apprentice is capable enough to help you face upcoming fights, especially now he has had an idea of what kind of danger we now facing.”</p><p class="p1">Ben frowned, “Danger? You mean the Force-wielder I met on Jakku?”</p><p class="p1">“Yes.” Ahsoka answered, “That’s why the Alliance need us now. Since Vader restarted the Inquisitor program, their numbers are growing. Though they are no longer fallen Jedis like those of the earlier time, it doesn’t mean they are not dangerous. In fact, General Organa and I both found the new generation of Inquisitors more militarized. And with a Jedi background, they are more unpredictable.”</p><p class="p1">Ben thought back at the Inquisitor with a spinning lightsaber and nodded— he was not strong with the Force but still tricky to defeat. </p><p class="p1">“Inquisitors now are no longer Jedi hunters, but Vader’s assassins, soldiers. But they continued to hunt for Force-sensitive children like their predecessors. We wasn’t sure before, but new evidence shows that Vader is planning to create himself a Force-sensitive army using those children. We have to protect the children. I’m working on acquiring more information on the Inquisitors and Vader’s plan. If I found anything, I’ll contact you again.”</p><p class="p1">Ahsoka’s words stirred anger within Ben. He remembered too well Rey’s terrified cry when she was about to be taken by the Inquisitors. He remembered the fear he sensed in Finn as well. He despised those clowns in masks. He almost wanted to mock when he saw that fearful pale face underneath a shattered mask. <em>How pathetic, only use their power against the defenseless.</em></p><p class="p1">“Don’t worry, Master.” He declared loudly into the comm, “I will track down and eliminate those Dark Side Force wielders— ”</p><p class="p1">“No,” Ahsoka cut him off, “that’s not your mission right now. You already have a great responsibility: take care of the children you brought, help them learn about the Force. Remember, rushing to action rarely solve the problem, especially when you are in a war.”</p><p class="p1">“Yes, Master, I understand.” Ben bowed his head. He felt everyone gaze felled on him. He just made a fool of himself, an arrogant boy who was just disciplined by his master.</p><p class="p1">The symbol disappeared from the holotable, the contact ended.</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">Leia came to Ben’s side after everyone else left.</p><p class="p1">“Your master wasn’t denying your capability.” She said, comforting him, “The kids you saved need protection and guidance. Master Tano trusts you can do that for them, like he used to do for you.”</p><p class="p1">“I know.” Ben shrugged, “I’m not upset. You don’t have to worry about me, Mother.”</p><p class="p1">“You don’t need to pretend before me.” Leia held his hand in hers and gave it a gentle pat.</p><p class="p1">She winked at Ben, “Mother knows it all.”</p><p class="p1">Ben’s arm twitched at her touch, then relaxed. He pressed his lips together for a moment, then admitted, “It wasn’t the kind of mission I hoped for, but Ahsoka was right. I will protect the two children…all children.”</p><p class="p1">Leia raised her hand and touched his face, “Ahsoka taught you well. I’m proud.”</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">If Leia used her Force ability to feel Ben’s mind, she would know he was still pretending. At least he wasn’t telling all the truth. He will protect the children alright, but in his opinion, the best protection is to eliminate the threats altogether.</p><p class="p1">He snuck out of his room with his lightsabers at the middle of the night. Poe hadn’t returned, which made things much easier. Finn had told him the training facility was located somewhere on Arkanis, a hidden section of an Imperial academy. He was hoping to destroy the facility on his own, but if he could sneak in and gather some intel, that would be more useful than taking care some kids. And if he could find out how they were trained, he could deal with the Inquisitors easier.</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">Ben sensed someone was following him as he approaching the Falcon. He suddenly turned around and held the stalker in place with the Force.</p><p class="p1">“Is this how you Jedi’s greet others?” Poe struggled in Ben’s invisible grip.</p><p class="p1">Ben let him go. Poe stumbled and fell on the ground.</p><p class="p1">“Why you here?” Ben asked with annoyance.</p><p class="p1">“Same reason as you.” Poe answered. He looked pass Ben at the Falcon with a wry expression, “If your master is Fulcrum, clearly she didn’t teach you anything about intelligence work. The entire galaxy knows about Millennium Falcon. You may as well carve ‘I AM REBEL’ on your forehead if you were driving around in that ship.”</p><p class="p1">“You are going to Arkanis?” Ben frowned, “Why?”</p><p class="p1">“So you really are planning to defy your order and track down those Inquisitors.” Poe chuckled. And Ben realized Poe just tricked him into revealing his plan.</p><p class="p1">Poe raised his hands in surrender as he saw the displeased look on Ben’s face, “I have the same idea. No offense, but Master Tano said herself, she was the primal target of the Empire. I’m not sure how much she could gather on the Empire while avoiding being captured or killed. And since we have learned things about them from Finn, why don’t we just go straight to their home. Anything we gather there may have great use in future fights.”</p><p class="p1">Ben’s expression softened a little as he heard Poe speaking what he was thinking.</p><p class="p1">“I presume you have a plan?”</p><p class="p1">“And a ship.” Poe smile widely. He led Ben to the other side of the parking ground. A white ship was parking there.</p><p class="p1">“This is Mirrorbright, a modified civilian ship. Han and I enhanced its weapon system without changing its look. Perfect for undercover missions.”</p><p class="p1">“Mirrorbright?” Ben repeated the name. It sounds familiar— form the lyrics of a lullaby Leia used to sing him when he was very young.</p><p class="p1">“She was Leia’s ship. Leia used to go on diplomatic mission in her, but as the war progressed, she was rarely in use now. So I think she might not notice us borrowed her ship, but if she does, let’s pray she will not get too angry.”</p><p class="p1">Ben didn’t like how Poe spoke of Han and Leia in such casual tone, reminding him how close they were, but now’s not the time to complain.</p><p class="p1">“Thank you for your advice,” Ben walked toward the ship, “but you don’t need to come. You can’t handle the Inquisitors.”</p><p class="p1">Poe went silence for a moment, as if finding the right word.</p><p class="p1">“But Mirrorbright needs two pilots.” Poe said finally, “And, if anything when wrong, you’ll need someone to back you up.”</p><p class="p1">Ben couldn’t object, having some backup was safer than having none. But he still warned as Poe opening the ramp door, “If you screw up, don’t hope I will save your ass.”</p><p class="p1">“Maybe I will save yours, Master Jedi.”</p><p class="p1">“I am not Jedi.” Ben’s voice grew cold. He walked pass Peo to get on the ship, but two small figures appeared before him.</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">“Rey said you will sneak out.” Finn looked nervous, “We can help.”</p><p class="p1">Ben and Poe exchanged a look and refused in unison, “No way!”</p><p class="p1">“I know the ways in Arkanis Academy, both the place Inquisitors are trained and the other parts of the Academy. I was a cadet there before Inquisitor Phasma took me.”</p><p class="p1"><em>Maybe he really can help.</em> Ben hesitated.<em> The boy was trained in the Force and lightsaber battle after all. But Rey…</em></p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">As if she could read his mind, Rey stepped forward with her hands on her hips, “You are the only one I trust. I want to stay with you. If you leave me behind, I’ll wake everybody up right now!”</p><p class="p1">She held up a small cube in her hand, a finger touching the button on top. Poe gasped when he saw what she was holding— the girl somehow managed to got her hands on the base’s emergency alarm!</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0010"><h2>10. Chapter 10</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1">Arkanis was a rainy planet. The weather provided great cover for Ben and Poe. But the climate also prevented trees from growing tall, so they had to park their ship in a small wood farther from the Academy to avoid being spotted.</p><p class="p1">In the end, they had to take Rey with them, but Ben and Poe agreed they would not take the girl farther into the enemy base, despite Rey’s pleading. Poe taught her how to activate the lockdown system on Mirrorbright and told her if anything happened, lockdown the ship, and the shield would rise automatically, no one could break in. She then could call them over the commlink and wait for them in the safety of the ship.</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">Finn led Ben and Poe toward the Arkanis Academy. The building compound on the mountain side was visitable even in the darkness of the night, standing behind a curtain of rain, looming over the land like a monster ready to devour all beings came near it.</p><p class="p1">“There it is.” Finn pointed at the buildings, “We have to get in before dawn. Let’s hope they don’t have surprise training session tonight.”</p><p class="p1">“Then we need to hurry. ” Ben said, speeding up his pace.</p><p class="p1">“Damn weather.” Poe cursed, “We should bring something against the rain.”</p><p class="p1">“Arkanis is always rainy.” Finn said, “A day like this is good weather to us.”</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">It wasn’t hard to get into the compound with Ben’s Force abilities. Poe’s jaw dropped with he first saw Ben using Jedi mind trick on stormtroopers. He quickly checked his own memory, wondering if all his thought was indeed his, but then was distracted by a hesitating Finn.</p><p class="p1">Finn actually didn’t know the way as well as he claimed. He was here for just over six month before showing his Force sensitivity and being sent to the Inquisitor training program codenamed “Project Harvester.” After that, he was mostly locked in a tower called “Area Null.” Finn told them Area Null was heavily guarded. Ordinary officers and cadets were prohibited from going near the area.</p><p class="p1">Finn only remembered the general direction of the tower. He led them across the campus, voiding the detection of stormtroopers, but their path ended at a cliff by the sea.</p><p class="p1">To their surprise, there was a person in orange uniform standing at the edge of the cliff, facing the sea, without any motion.</p><p class="p1">“Those in orange are workers here.” Finn told Ben and Poe in a quiet voice, “They don’t carry any weapons. They’re civilians, I think. People here usually don’t treat them very nicely…He isn’t going to kill himself, is he?”</p><p class="p1">“Then we should stop him, but be careful.” Ben said, and Poe nodded in agreement.</p><p class="p1">Poe motioned Finn to watch the buildings, while he and Ben sneaked closer to the person from behind. Ben used the Force to hold him in place, and Poe seized him by the chest from behind with one hand, covering his mouth with the other.</p><p class="p1">They pulled him from the cliff. Poe felt the body under his arm was too soft to the touch. Then he realized it wasn’t a HIM— he was actually holding a woman in his arm. Poe’s cheeks flushed red in embarrassment, murmured an apology that nobody could hear.</p><p class="p1">“We are no going to harm you.” Poe told the woman, “I’ll let go if you promise you won’t shout, or we’ll have throw you off the cliff.”</p><p class="p1">He felt the woman nodded, then released her, but still prepared to seize her again if she tries anything.</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">The woman didn’t shout. She raised her hand to fix her hair, but froze whenher palm touched the spiky short hair. After a moment, she let down her hand, and turned to them. Ben and Poe found she was surprisingly young, the same age as they were, or even younger. Her skin was unhealthily pale and her eyes were dull, but they could still figure out she was once a pretty young lady. But now, her expressionless face made her more of a mannequin than a human being.</p><p class="p1">“My name is Alina.” She spoke softly, “Thank you for saving me.”</p><p class="p1">“So you really was about the jump?” Poe asked with a frown, “Why?”</p><p class="p1">“I…” Alina hesitated. She slowly looked up and down at the two men before her, and tilted her head, “You are…enemies of the Empire?”</p><p class="p1">Poe was instantly altered by Alina’s usual choice of word— those who called then “enemies of the Empire” usually weren’t friends. But Ben was still relaxed— maybe he could sense she wasn’t hostile, or maybe he was just confident he could handle anything by the Force.</p><p class="p1">What Alina said next confused Poe even more, “Are you here to save us?”</p><p class="p1">“You are hoping someone could save you?” Ben asked, “What happened to you?”</p><p class="p1">“So you are not here to save us.” Alina sounded disappointed, but her face still didn’t show any emotion, as if all facial nerves were cut from her brain.</p><p class="p1">“Maybe we can help you.” Poe said to her in a comforting tone, “But we need to know who you are, what happened to you, and how to help you.”</p><p class="p1">“I am a participant in ‘Project Unity.’ I am not a traitor, though they called me that. I was just a ordinary citizen of the Empire. I was misled by some false information…No, I wasn’t…I…”</p><p class="p1">The conner of her right eye twitched. She lowered her head, trying to hide it from the men before her.</p><p class="p1">“I just pointed out the quota they gave us in the factory was unrealistically high. There’s no way we could meet it. I just want them to set an achievable goal. Then they said I’m a traitor, enemy of the Empire. I am not. I am a citizen of the Empire, a loyal subject of the Emperor…”</p><p class="p1">Poe and Ben looked at each other, now both realized the young woman named Alina might have some mental issues. They also heard the phrase: “Project Unity.”</p><p class="p1">“Project Unity, what is that?” Poe asked.</p><p class="p1">“An education program. To make us realize our fault and our misunderstanding toward the Empire. It makes us into better person.” Alina spoke in an almost mechanical tone, like she was reciting from a instruction manual. She blinked a few times, as if just awoken from a trance, and spoke in a deeply pained voice, “NO, it was torture. They told me I won’t be executed if I join the program, that I would have a chance to go back to my family. If only I knew then what that meant, I would rather die. Now I got my mind back. I will not be like that again!”</p><p class="p1">The muscle on her face twitched uncontrollably, twisting her face into a horrifying look. She covered her face with her hands, tear streaming down.</p><p class="p1">Poe turned his head away. He poked Ben with his finger and motioned him to do the same, leaving this poor woman with her last bit of dignity.</p><p class="p1">They waited as Alina cried, until her crying stoped, and turned back to her.</p><p class="p1">“Thank you.” Alina tried to smile, but only moved her lip awkwardly.</p><p class="p1">“We will get you out of here.” Poe promised, “But we need to learn more about this place, especially Area Null.”</p><p class="p1">A glim of light turned to Alina’s eyes. She pointed to a long levee under the cliff and a tower at the end of it, and said, “That’s the place you’re looking for. All the participants of ‘Project Unity’ live there. I have the keycard. I can show you where everyone live, then you get your men to rescue all of us.”</p><p class="p1">Ben and Poe were overjoyed knowing Alina could get into the tower. They called Finn back and followed Alina onto the levee toward the tower.</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">Alina stoped at the entrance. She looked back at them with some worry on her face, “I shouldn’t be out about at this time at night. I don’t know if anyone has noticed. I’ll go in and check. You guys wait here.”</p><p class="p1">All three nodded. Alina opened the door with her keycard and walked into the dark hall of the tower…</p><p class="p1">“Wait!” Ben immediately sensed danger. He rushed to stop Alina, but it was too late: a beam of red light appeared from the darkness, and the light had pierced right through Alina’s chest. Alina stared at Ben in complete shock. She fell to the floor, as the light was pulled from her.</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">“She was more useful than she thought.” A familiar voice came through the door. Hux walked out of the tower, lightsaber in hand. He wasn’t wearing his helmet, not intended to hide his complacent. “She has proven the recondition was a waste of resources. You can’t really change someone who refuses to be changed.”</p><p class="p1">“But, look at who she has brought us—” Hux’s eyes moved from Ben to Poe then to Finn, “the Jedi, the pilot, and the little traitor. You don’t really believe you can sneak down here so easily by the guide of the Force, do you?”</p><p class="p1">Ben looked at Hux angrily. With his lightsaber in hand, Ben stepped up to confront Hux. But before he took his move, a blaster bolt was fired at Hux. Hux deflected the blaster bolt with his lightsaber, but then a second shot, and a third one…</p><p class="p1">Ben turned and saw Poe stared at Hux with hatred in his eyes and shot at him again and again and again. Yet his attack was nothing to an Inquisitor like Hux, who deflected all the blaster bolt with ease, even didn’t need to activate the second blade on his lightsaber.</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">“So you lived.” Hux grinned viciously as he continued to deflect Poe’s attack, “But did your General Organa know that you told me where to find the star map?”</p><p class="p1">“Shut up!” Poe shouted in rage, “I’ll make you pay for what you’ve done!”</p><p class="p1">“You can’t, because you will die here.”</p><p class="p1">Hux was finally tired of toying with Poe. He raised on hand, and Poe wasn’t able to move. He was pushed slowly toward the edge of the levee.</p><p class="p1">Ben ignited his lightsaber and broke Hux’s grip on Poe with a slash of his blade. At the same time, they heard the sound of blaster fire behind they— stormtroopers had cut they way back.</p><p class="p1">Normally, Ben would defeat Hux with ease, but with blasters firing behind him, it was not that easy. Finn and Poe tried their best to fight back with their blaster and lightsaber, but it was hard to do so when you were at the middle of a levee with no cover. Despite his training, Finn was still a boy, and his lightsaber wasn’t made for real combat. It was a miracle he could protect Poe and himself from the blaster bolts for this long.</p><p class="p1">They were trapped, Ben knew that, and he also knew if he doesn’t think of something quick, they would all die.</p><p class="p1">He took a quick look around the levee while blocking Hux’s attack: the levee was built by the cliff, and there were rocks below it. One massive rock seems to be blown in half during the construction of the levee and formed relatively plane surface. If they could get on to the rock, the levee itself might sheild them from the blasters.</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">“You got to jump!” He yelled to Poe and Finn.</p><p class="p1">“Are you crazy?” Poe yelled back.</p><p class="p1">“Aim for that flat rock!” Ben pushed Hux back with the Force, tried to explain to them as fast as he could, “I’ll catch you with the Force, trust me.”</p><p class="p1">Poe gave Ben a doubtful look, but the situation left him no other choice. He grabbed Finn’s wrist, they moved closer to the rock, and jumped from the levee.</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">Ben raised his lightsaber to meet Hux’s, locking the red blade with the special crossguard form of his lightsaber. He reached behind him with his other hand, concentrated on slowing down their fall. Focusing on two things at once, he only tried something like this once, when he designed his crossguard lightsaber despite Ahsoka’s warning of the danger of wielding a weapon of such shape—</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <em>“So, how do you feel, holding a lightsaber.” Ahsoka asked.</em>
</p><p class="p1">
  <em>“Confident, powerful.” He answered.</em>
</p><p class="p1">
  <em>Ahsoka raised her brow (or the facial marking resembled a brow), “So your confidence and your power came from you lightsaber?”</em>
</p><p class="p1">
  <em>She held out a hand, “Can I see it?”</em>
</p><p class="p1">
  <em>He handed his lightsaber to Ahsoka, but his master tossed the lightsaber to the rocky hill behind her without giving it a look.</em>
</p><p class="p1">
  <em>He wasn’t given a chance to protest when Ahsoka suddenly drew her own lightsabers and began attacking him— his master was not young but still incredibly fast.</em>
</p><p class="p1">
  <em>He was taken by surprise at first, but quickly anchored himself in the Force, dodging Ahsoka’s moves while searching for his lightsaber with the Force.</em>
</p><p class="p1">
  <em>Finally, when he was cornered between the rocks, he summoned his lightsaber to his hand and fended off Ahsoka’s strike.</em>
</p><p class="p1">
  <em>Ahsoka smiled, switched off her lightsaber.</em>
</p><p class="p1">
  <em>“Is your thought changed now?”</em>
</p><p class="p1">
  <em>He smiled as well, “Yes. My power came from myself, from my connection with the Force.”</em>
</p><p class="p1">
  <em>“So why do you use your lightsaber now?”</em>
</p><p class="p1">
  <em>“Because it can end the fight sooner.”</em>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">Ben let out a sigh of relief after he put Poe and Finn on the rock safely. Beams of blaster bolts coming toward him but was stoped in the midair. Ben redirected the blaster bolts toward Hux and ran pass him into the tower when Hux was busy deflecting the blaster bolts.</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">Alina’s body was still lying by the door. Ben felt sorry for not able to give her a proper burial. But Hux didn’t give him much time to mourn. Red and blue light clashed again and again inside the dim tower. Ben began to feel irritated, the tight space limited his movement. He knocked Hux to the ground with his fist and the Force, but the Inquisitor kept coming at him as if he didn’t feel the pain. Only now did Ben find out how difficult Hux was to get rid of when he was really determined to kill him.</p><p class="p1">Ben slowly retreated upstairs as his fight with Hux continued. As he moved closer to the window on the second floor, he sensed a dark power appeared behind him. Without looking back, he pulled Luke’s lightsaber from his belt and block the enemy’s strike just in time. It was heavy, almost knocked his lightsaber out of his hand.</p><p class="p1">Ben forced Hux back and turned his head to get a glimpse of the attacker at his back. It was a tall Inquisitor in a similar mask as Hux, concealing its face and identity.</p><p class="p1">Now Ben was in deeper trouble. He didn’t know if Hux and the other Inquisitor were partners or what, but the two collaborated perfectly. The tall Inquisitor drew out Ben’s full power with its fast attack and heavy blow, and Hux struke between his partner’s blows trying to catch Ben off guard.</p><p class="p1">Ben started to sweat. He never faced a situation as deadly as this. He has to break their attack sequence, so he targeted the weaker of the two.</p><p class="p1">Ben grabbed Hux’s lightsaber hilt again, like he did in Jakku. Only this time, Hux switched off his lightsaber before he did. A ring of sharp blades appeared at the edge of the hilt, almost slashed Ben’s face. Ben loosened his grip, and Hux ignited his lightsaber once again, aiming for Ben’s head.</p><p class="p1">Ben gapsed, kicked Hux hard at his chest. Hux stumbled down the stairs, as Ben turned to face the other Inquisitor. He Force jumped over the Inquisitor’s head, slid both his lightsabers into its circle hilt, and slashed the its lightsaber in half. The Inquisitor was’t anticipating this move, and was thrown down the stairs.</p><p class="p1">Ben searched around— the entrance downstairs seemed to be the only exit of the building as well, which meant he had to fight his way out…</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">“Ben!” Poe’s voice came through his commlink, “To the roof!”</p><p class="p1">Though didn’t know what’s waiting, Ben didn’t hesitate to follow Poe’s direction. When he reach the roof, he found Mirrorbright was hovering there. The ramp door opened, Rey, holding on the the handrail, shouted to him, “Get on!”</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">Ben jumped into the ship. His clothes were soaking wet, from the rain or from his sweat he didn’t know. He hung his lightsabers back to his side and came into the cockpit, fell into the copilot seat, and let out a long breath.</p><p class="p1">“How did you guys…” He asked, gesturing the ship.</p><p class="p1">Poe smiled, almost reluctantly. He pointed his finger at cheering Rey, “That little girl you brought was a natural pilot. Despite almost crashed into the rocks, she somehow still managed to pick Finn and I up at seaside.”</p><p class="p1">Ben’s eyes widened.</p><p class="p1">“How?” He turned to look at Rey.</p><p class="p1">Rey jumped to his side and hugged him, then spoke with a mischievous smile, “I can feel it when you are in trouble.”</p><p class="p1"> </p><p class="p1"> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>The Ben and Ahsoka part was inspired by an episode in Forces of Destiny, in which Ahsoka taught Ezra the lesson.<br/>I am terrible at writing action scenes. Many of Ben’s moves were inspired by the fights in Star Wars Rebels. I love that show.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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